Prosecutors in Germany near Porsche case

GERMAN prosecutors will soon decide whether to bring criminal charges of market manipulation against the former top management of sportscar maker Porsche, German magazine Der Spiegel has reported.

Former chief executive Wendelin Wiedeking and former chief financial officer Holger Haerter have been subject to a probe into alleged market manipulation and prosecutors have all but completed their case preparations, Der Spiegel reported yesterday, without detailing sources.

The city of Stuttgart’s prosecutors office, Wiedeking and Haerter could not be reached for comment.

The two former executives and Porsche have repeatedly rejected the allegations and Der Spiegel cited their lawyers as saying the accusations were without merit.

Prosecutors in Stuttgart are about to give case files to the executives' lawyers and give them a chance to comment on the accusations but are otherwise ready to make their case, the magazine said.

Wiedeking and Haerter have been accused of pursuing plans for Porsche to take over much larger carmaker Volkswagen while making repeated statements to the contrary.